Adhemar+of+le+Puy

This page is entirely dedicated to the career of Adhemar of le Puy. It should include his rise to prominence, his role in the speech by Urban II, his participation in the Crusade as well as his role in binding the parites involved together. It should also make reference to the discovery of the Holy Lance and the impact which this had on the status of Adhemar.

Plan: Adhemar's background and his role in the formation of the Crusade; his actions on the march to and at Constantinople; his actions on the march across Asia Minor; his actions at Antioch; his actions after the capture of Antioch, including keeping morale high against Kerbogha and his death; conclusion of his influence on the Crusade (good negotiator and appeaser etc.) NH

Adhemar was Bishop of le Puy from before 1087 and was a close ally of Pope Urban II. He was a middle aged man and had already made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1086. In 1095, at the Council of Clermont, Adhemar showed great zeal for the idea of the Crusade and allegedly was the first person to take the Crusading oath. It is very likely that this was not a spontaneous act on Adhemar's part and that in fact he had discussed the idea of a Crusade with Pope Urban beforehand. He was made Papal legate, the Pope's official representative on the Crusade and travelled with Raymond of Toulouse, the nominal secular leader of the crusade.

During the march to Constantinople, Adhemar proved himself to be the spiritual leader of the crusade. The route through Slavonia was mountainous and dangerous as the local people would not trade with them. In the valley of Pelagonia, Adhemar was captured by some Patzinaks whilst walking a distance from the camp, however, by the will of god, whilst they were robbing him, one of the Patzinaks was greedy, pushing the others away, which alerted the crusaders to Adhemar's situation and therefore, he was saved. At Constantinople, Adhemar negotiated with Alexius I to arrange food and arrangements for the crusaders camped outside the city and also helped to soften, smoothen the terms of the oath. JT

Adhemar of Le Puy was a calming influence throughout the crusade however he was no more potent than at Nicaea when the crusade threatened to lose all discipline however the spiritual leader of the crusade proceeded to prevent the crusade falling apart and managed to get the crusade through Asia Minor without major incident. This is an achievement in itself as with so many people of different nationalities he managed to unite them and give them the discipline they clearly needeed.[SS]

Adhemar proved a key tool throughout the crusade in terms of acting as a calming influences who cooled any tensions or hostilities that arose throughout the crusade. Adhemar toook an unoffical role in the crusade in that he was highly regarded by both the Norman and Frankish factions as the spiritual leader of the crusade. Throughout every battle Adehmar was a great help in maintaing the crusader forces, this is apparent at the battle of Dorylaeum. As the churches personal leader Adhemar made sure the men remained disciplined by instilling a sense of great faith within them for their acts. He made sure that even whilst under heavy atack from the Danishmends and the that they remained vigilant in the face of danger. Without the spiritually support offered by Adhemar many of the troop may have deserted or sucumbed to rebellion against their leaders. Howvever on this battle Adhemar took control of a force and was in soul charge of taking out the Turkish camp, an objective he accomplished by attacking from the rear while Godfrey and Raymond had the Turkish archers ourtflanked. [GB]