Peasant Armies, Apocalyptic Prophecies
and the Christian Atrocities of the First Crusade
“In the cities of these peoples that the
Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave
alive anything that breathes.” – Deuteronomy, 20:16
If the history of holy wars has taught
us anything, it is that the most direct path to God is through rivers
of blood. Despite the official line of pacifistic cheek-turning,
violent conquest has been a fairly consistent feature of Latin
Christendom since the time of Constantine. It’s a religious legacy
shaped far more by the sword than the cross, and more accurately
represented by barbarian warlords then the benevolent apostles of
Christ. But the First Crusade, as blood-soaked in violence as it was,
represented something different; something almost otherworldly in the
carnage it unleashed.
