Peter the Hermit, c.1050–1115, French religious leader. In 1095 he was a very successful preacher of the First Crusade (see Crusades), and he led one of its bands. In 1096 he reached Constantinople with his undisciplined followers; when they arrived in Asia Minor, Peter went back to get help from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I. In 1098 at Antioch he tried to run away; however, he later undertook a mission to the Muslim ruler of Mosul. He went home after the taking of Jerusalem and founded the monastery of Neufmoutier at Liège, where he settled. His place in the Crusade was greatly exaggerated, for he seems to have been only one of many preachers and leaders, although a very early one.
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