The breach which in consequence occurred between Alfonso and the king of Seville induced the latter to join the league of the rest of the Mahometan princes, and send for the conqueror of northern Africa, the Almoravide Prince Yussuf Ibn-Teshufin, to aid them against Alfonso. Al-Mutamed spoke the deciding word in favor of this plan. The African hero appeared in response to the invitation, and his presence eventually caused the servitude and downfall of the Andalusian princes. CHAPTER X. THE FIRST CRUSADE. The position of the Jews in Germany previous to the Crusades-- The community of Speyer and Henry IV--The Martyrs of Treves and Speyer--Emmerich of Leiningen and the Martyrs of Mayence --Cruel persecutions at Cologne--Suffering of the Jews in Bohemia--Pitiful death of the Jews of Jerusalem--Emperor Henry's justice towards the Jews--Return of Converts to Judaism--Death of Alfassi and Rashi. 1096-1105 C. E. Towards the end of the eleventh century there arose the first contest between Christianity and Islam on other ground than that of Spain. This contest turned the history of the world into new paths, and inserted in the history of the Jews pages dripping with blood. Peter of Amiens' lament about the ill-treatment of pilgrims in Jerusalem, which found a thousandfold echo at the Church congress in Clermont, had aroused piety, chivalry, ambition, and a number of other noble and ignoble passions, expressing themselves in a crusade. A terrible time ensued; but the greatest suffering fell on the German Jews, who had to seal their confession of faith with blood. Before the crusades, the Jews of Germany had dwelt in peace; they were not excluded from the possession of land, nor were they despised and humiliated. When Bishop Rüdiger Huozmann, of Speyer, extended the limits of the town by including the village Old Speyer, he knew no better way of improving the new portion than by allowing the Jews to have privileges and dwellings therein. He allowed the Jews to live under their own laws, and their secular head or their rabbin (Archisynagogus), like the burgomasters, decided lawsuits. The Jews could buy slaves, and hire male and female servants from Christians, in opposition to the canonical laws and against the will of Pope Gregory VII. In order to protect them from the mob, Rüdiger gave them a special quarter surrounded by a wall, which they might fortify and defend. These privileges, for which they annually paid 3-1/2 lbs. of gold, were guaranteed to them for all time. Rüdiger adds in the charter that he was granting to the Jews the same favorable conditions that they enjoyed in other German towns. Emperor Henry IV confirmed these privileges, and added other more favorable clauses. This emperor, who, in spite of his thoughtlessness and fickleness, was never unjust, issued a decree (6th February, 1095) in favor of the Jews. No one was permitted to compel either the Jews or their slaves to be baptized.