Born in the middle of the 11th century, Pierre d' Archères , told to the Hermit , probably originating in Amiens, had probably already traversed what the Christian world regarded as the Holy Land when Urbain II launched his call to the crusade on November 27th 1095 at the time of the Concile of Clermont. The reason for the Pape was that the Turks which had conquered Jerusalem on the Arab Abbassides in 1073, prohibited from now on the access of the holy Places to the Christian pilgrims.

Pierre the Hermit was one of the popular preachers, those which the historian Jacques Heers called the “insane ones of God”. Those, associated with the diffusion of the pontifical call, drained broad audiences to which they preached the reform of manners.

Historical work starts to develop on the the first persecutions against the Jews at the time of the “German” crusades. The historian Jean Richard note:

“a recent study of the historian Jean Flori again stressed the originality of the crusade, such as it was préchée by these preachers, in what it did not follow only the lines traced by Urbain II in his speech of Clermont, in particular by introducing into their sermons a antijuive note which was going to result in the exactions of which Jews of the Rhineland and of the valley of the Danube were the main victims. ”

While préchant of Bourges to Cologne, the eloquence of Pierre raised the enthusiasm of thousands of Christians (more than 12000 men) who are reflected moving in May 1096 and reached Constantinople as of the end of July when the movement still became extensive.

Being itself advanced until Nicomédie Pierre the Hermit could not maintain there the discipline of his troop and in front of the first reverses, went back itself from there to Constantinople to ask the support of the Basileus, the emperor Alexis Comnène. Meanwhile, its army was massacred by the Turks with the camp of Civitot and it waited until Western princes came to him in reinforcement with their men in May 1097.
Its last appearance was done on the Mount of Olives on July 8th 1099 when it harangua the crowd of crossed before the catch of Jerusalem. The city was taken on July 15th 1099, however one does not find any more a trace of the character who according to any probability found death in the battle.

A Legend however makes reappear the character with Huy in 1100, it founded there the Monastère of Neufmoustier, where it finishes his days in 1115. This legend finds its origin in the writings of Jacques of Vitry which found convenient to convince people originating in the évêché of Liege in the cogency in one participation in the crusade against the Albigensians to handle the history a little and to give birth to some heroic characters resulting from the Pas-de-calais in edge of Meuse.

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