The crusaders are also shown to be much more predatorily than the Jewish people and they always initiate the violence in this document. During one part of the retelling, the author recounts how the crusaders stalk and terrorize the Jewish people by saying, “When [a crusader] saw one of us, they ran after him and pierced him with a spear, to the point that we were afraid even to cross our thresholds”4. The Roman Catholics are depicted as unreasonable, violent and their faith seems to be entirely based upon war and murder. The author describes the Jewish people as more reasonable and faithful as opposed to the Roman Catholics constant violence and military based actions, illustrating to the demoralized Jews the superiority of their Religion over the Roman Catholics. The First Crusade was very damaging to the population size of the Jewish people as well as their morale. The Anonymous of Mainz: A Hebrew Account of the First Crusade attempts to give hope to the Jewish people by telling inspiring stories about heroic Jewish martyrs, displaying how the Jewish people are closer to God and how they are a more peaceful group as a whole. While describing the massacres of the Jewish cities Mainz, Speyer and
The crusaders are also shown to be much more predatorily than the Jewish people and they always initiate the violence in this document. During one part of the retelling, the author recounts how the crusaders stalk and terrorize the Jewish people by saying, “When [a crusader] saw one of us, they ran after him and pierced him with a spear, to the point that we were afraid even to cross our thresholds”4. The Roman Catholics are depicted as unreasonable, violent and their faith seems to be entirely based upon war and murder. The author describes the Jewish people as more reasonable and faithful as opposed to the Roman Catholics constant violence and military based actions, illustrating to the demoralized Jews the superiority of their Religion over the Roman Catholics. The First Crusade was very damaging to the population size of the Jewish people as well as their morale. The Anonymous of Mainz: A Hebrew Account of the First Crusade attempts to give hope to the Jewish people by telling inspiring stories about heroic Jewish martyrs, displaying how the Jewish people are closer to God and how they are a more peaceful group as a whole. While describing the massacres of the Jewish cities Mainz, Speyer and