We’re going back a way today, but on this day in 1095 CE, Pope Urban II made a speech at the Council of Clermont calling for a great crusade to Palestine. The goal of this crusade would be for European Christians to win back locations important to Christianity that were under the control of the Seljuk Turks. Jerusalem was the greatest prize.

Urban II had many reasons for calling this crusade. The Byzantine Empire, under grave threat from the Seljuk Turks after their disastrous loss at Manzikert in 1072, had appealed for aid. The Christian Church had been in schism since 1054. (This became one split that remains in Christianity today. Western Europe favored what we call Roman Catholicism. Eastern Europe tended toward Orthodox Christianity.) What better way to heal the split in the Church on Rome’s terms than for Urban to have a hand in aiding the Byzantines?

Church politics wasn’t the only reason for a crusade, however. It was also true that Europe was a very violent place in the 11^th century. Rulers claiming to be Christian often made war on other rulers who also claimed allegiance to Christ. Wouldn’t it be better, Urban II reasoned, if these experienced warriors took their military talents and used them against nonbelievers rather than fighting each other?

Finally, Urban II had received reports that Christian pilgrims seeking to visit holy places in Palestine had received poor treatment by the Muslim rulers along the road to Jerusalem. Surely, Christ would favor men who took up the task of liberating these lands from Muslim control, he preached. To sweeten the deal, he offered full forgiveness of sin to all who took The Cross and attempted to regain the Holy Lands.

Results of Urban II’s Speech

It took a while to get organized, but by 1099 the First Crusade had regained Jerusalem, and the Crusaders had carved out several small kingdoms in Palestine. Several more crusades followed, all of them less successful militarily than the first.

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