ABSTRACT
Normans, whether from the duchy of Normandy, the principalities of southern Italy, or the more recently conquered kingdom of England, were some of the most enthusiastic and prominent participants in the expedition proclaimed in 1095 by Pope Urban II for the liberation of the Holy Land from the Turks. Most of the Norman crusaders who joined the crusade in 1096 left the West in the contingents of two leaders. Robert Curthose was joined by at least one Norman who had arrived in Palestine by a far more lengthy and circuitous journey than the majority of his followers, as a result of a feud in Normandy. When the crusaders entered Palestine they evidently believed that the country constituted a regnum, and after the storming of the city of Jerusalem on 15 July 1099 they proceeded to elect a ruler to govern it.
