"Abstract: Peter the Hermit: Straddling the Boundaries of Lordship, Millennialism, and Heresy demonstrates how eleventh and early twelfth century wandering preachers established millennial spiritual lordship over their popular movements. Peter the Hermit's Popular Crusade exemplifies this."

The actions of a Norman knight, Bohemond, and a Frankish crusader, Raymond of Toulouse, exemplify this fact. The comparison of these two, as well as the rest of the crusade leaders, demonstrate that the Norman crusaders were driven by a complex and sometimes conflicting mix of pious and secular motivations, no different from their Frankish counterparts.

This study argues that in addition to protecting the kingdom of Jerusalem against perceived enemies from without, these strongholds are evidence of the military orders' involvement in policing nomads roaming within and traversing through the kingdom.

"The current paper surveys and analyzes the ecological and economic crisis of 1093- 1096, as the prelude to the First Crusade, chiefly in its "popular" form. The pestilence of 1093-1094, drought and famine of 1095 have increased the religious zeal and social violence of the popular masses in regions of Germany, the Low Countries and France. This combination has turned into the (failed) crusade. The collective behaviour of the crusading rustics reflects their economic distress, religious zeal and violent mood, at the same time."

"The Preaching of the First Crusade and the Persecutions of the Jews By Shmuel Shepkaru Medieval Encounters, Volume 18, Issue 1 (2012)"

"From 1096 to 1101, over 100,000 people from all over Western Europe set off towards Jerusalem. These men and women, these warriors and pilgrims, priests and nuns, lords and laborers, didn't have a name for what they were doing-no one would use the word Crusade to describe an armed pilgrimage, or holy military expedition, until more than another century had passed. Yet the battle that preceded their march, a battle along the way to Jerusalem, and still another after that city was conquered by a tiny remnant of the original force, combined to permanently reshape the nature (both spiritual and physical) of Catholic Europe. Dr. Jessica Goldberg, Assistant Professor, Medieval History, University of Pennsylvania, speaks at this "Great Battles: Moments in Time that Changed History" series lecture program."

"The crusades were arguably the greatest migration event that took place in medieval Europe. In the 12th and 13th centuries, hundreds of thousands of Europeans travelled to the eastern Mediterranean on military campaigns, pilgrimage and to trade. "The crusades are often blamed for the spread of disease during the medieval period," explained Mitchell, whose work was funded by the British Academy. "But only limited research has investigated which diseases might have been spread, in which direction, eastwards or westwards, and what impact this may have had upon the endemic patterns of disease.""

"Monarchy and nobility in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1131: establishment and origins By Alan V. Murray PhD Dissertation, University of St Andrews, 1988 Abstract: The starting-point of this thesis is the question of the origin of the nobility in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem up to 1131. This is discussed in parallel with the question of the origins of the monarchy itself and that of relations between the two institutions."

"Barney Sloane, author of The Black Death in London, said: "An emergency cemetery is a really uncommon find: they were open for a very short while in response to a disease that wiped out 60% of London in months. "They give us a snapshot of the health, lifestyle and demographic make up of London - and since the plague killed indiscriminately there should be a good cross-section.""

"Week 11 - Life in the Middle Ages"

"Week 11 - Life in the Middle Ages"

"Links to cartographic web sites"

"Explore 1120 pages in the manuscript New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, M. 905, better known as the Geese Book. Use the drop-down calendar to locate feasts and saints' days. Hear and see selected chants with transcriptions and translations."

"Conflict History [conflicthistory.com], developed by TecToys, summarizes all major human conflicts onto a single world map - from the historical wars way before the birth of Christ, until the drone attacks in Pakistan that are still happening today. The whole interactive map is build upon data retrieved from Google and Freebase open data services."

The ECHO Content: Seed Collections of a Growing Web of Culture  European Cultural Heritage Online

"Through the Eyes of a Crusader: An Intensive Study Into the Personal Involvement of Two Men in the Fourth Crusade"

search for historic sites by geography and time period

"Introduction: History sometimes has scattered poppy without merit. We know little of many who were once great in the earth, and still less of the life of the people in their times. The life of the past must be visualized by piecing together detached and scattered fragments from many sources. The result is a composite picture, not a portrait. It is only now and then that the student of history is able to penetrate behind the veil of obscurity and get glimpses of intimate personal life and learn to know the men and women of the past with some degree of acquaintance."

"Timetoast is a great way to share the past, or even the future... Creating a timeline takes minutes, it's as simple as can be." Free Registration required

"Romainmôtier : le monastère dévoilé"