Blessed Peter the Hermit

His exhortations were so successful that they gave birth to the First Crus ade, led by Godfr ey of Bouillon. Peter was tasked wi th commanding a portion of the expedition, and, after losing a part of his troops in various engagements with the Turks, he rejoined Godfrey and the other leaders in Constantinople.

Finding himself at the siege of Antioch in 1097, he wished to resign from a command he had only accepted reluctantly; he even proposed to leave the crusaders to return to solitude; but Tancred, foreseeing the bad effect his departure would produce, especially given that he was like the soul of the expedition, made him swear an oath not to abandon those who had placed their trust in him. He distinguished himself at the si ege of Jerusalem i n 1099, and, after the capture of this city, the new patriarch made him his vicar general during his absence.

He left the East at the beginning of the 12th century and foun ded the abbey of Neu moutier near Huy, in Flanders. The monastery was o f the Order of Saint Au gustine, under the invocation of Saint John the Baptist. He founded i t at the expense of Lamber t of Clermont and Conan of Montzigu, his companions on his journey and return from Jerusalem, and entrusted it to canons regular. He died there on July 8, 1115. In 1242, his body was exhumed and transported to the crypt of the church. When it was repaired in the 18th century, his bones, placed in a box, were deposited in the sacristy. His name is found in the calendars of Flanders under July 8.

Taken from Migne: Hagiographic and Abbey Dictionary.