ine the causes, progress, and consequences of the First Crusade. The main emphasis will be on the people and events of the First Crusade itself, from the initial call at Claremont till the conquest of Jerusalem. But the Crusade cannot be understood without reference to the trends and events that led up to it; nor can an account of it be fully meaningful without some consideration of the consequences--in Palestine and Europe alike--that flowed from it.
Before proceeding, something should be said of the available primary sources for the First Crusade. There are a significant number of these. Two major chronicles were written by participants in the Crusade. Raymond d'Aguilers was the personal chaplain of Raymond of Tolouse, one of the leading barons. His account was written within two or three years after the events, and because of his status, he was privy to the thinking of the leadership, though also naturally biased in favor of Count Raymond. He is thus as near as we can come to an "official historian" of the First Crusade.
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