Adhemar of Le Puy
|
A mitred Adhemar carrying the Holy Lance in battle. |
Adhemar (also known as
Adémar,
Aimar, or
Aelarz)
de Monteil (d.
August 1,
1098), one of the principal personages of the
First Crusade, was bishop of
Puy-en-Velay from before
1087.
At the
Council of Clermont in
1095, Adhemar showed great zeal for the crusade (there is evidence Urban II had conferred with Adhemar before the council) and having been named
apostolic legate and appointed to lead the crusade by
Pope Urban II, he accompanied
Raymond IV,
count of Toulouse, to the east. Whilst Raymond and the other leaders often conflicted with each other over the leadership of the crusade, Adhemar was always recognised as the spiritual leader of the crusade.
Adhemar negotiated with
Alexius I Comnenus at
Constantinople, reestablished at
Nicaea some discipline among the crusaders, fought a crucial role at the battle of Dorylaeum and was largely responsible for sustaining morale during the
siege of Antioch through various religious rites including fasting and special observances of holy days. After the capture of
the city in June,
1098, and the subsequent siege led by
Kerbogha, Adhemar organized a procession through the streets, and had the gates locked so that the Crusaders, many of whom had begun to panic, would be unable to desert the city. He was extremely skeptical of
Peter Bartholomew's discovery in Antioch of the
Holy Lance, especially because he knew such a relic already existed in Constantinople; however, he was willing to let the Crusader army believe it was real if it raised their morale.
When Kerbogha was defeated, Adhemar organized a council in an attempt to settle the leadership disputes, but he died on August 1, 1098, probably of
typhus. The disputes among the higher nobles went unsolved, and the march to
Jerusalem was delayed for months. However, the lower-class foot soldiers continued to think of Adhemar as a leader; some of them claimed to have been visited by his ghost during the
siege of Jerusalem, and reported that Adhemar instructed them to hold another procession around the walls. This was done, and Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders in
1099.
links
External * [letra urbana de http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html del diciembre de 1095 que designa Adhemar] lugar de nacimiento de adhemar de montiel
