World History

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The Cause of the Crusades

In 1095 , Pope Urban II delivered a speech at the Council of Clermont but one can never be sure what it exactly contains . The only sources we can find are excerpts from those who may have been present during the ceremony . But whatever it exactly contained , it received a massive response from the Western Christians , and thus , the First Crusade was born . Whatever the reasons the Western Christians have in joining the Crusade , we can never know for sure , but

it is certainly a response from the Pope 's call to rise in arms in aid of the Byzantine Empire and to recapture the Holy Land

Jerusalem had been under the Muslim dominion for over 400 years at the time when Pope Urban II delivered his speech . The papacy may have received reports of atrocities by the Muslims from Christian pilgrims and to those who were subjected to their rules , but it is apparent that even with these reports Christians and Muslims have coexisted in a relative peace . It was until Alexius I , emperor of the Byzantine Empire called for aid to defend against the Seljuk Turks , who have been expanding their territory through invasion that Christians resolve to raise arms against the Muslims . Pope Urban II called to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends (Thatcher McNeal 517 ) and declaring that it is the will of God (Munro 5...