ABSTRACT
On 27 November 1095 at Clermont in the Auvergne Pope Urban II spoke before a crowded audience of clerics and laymen. He called for the formation of a Christian army to come to the aid of the Eastern churches and the Christian communities suffering under Muslim rule. This was partly in response to an appeal from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus that had reached the pope nine months earlier. The emperor had requested Western aid against the Seljuk armies that were threatening the truncated Eastern Empire. Alexius’ letter to the pope had helped set in motion an unprecedented development in which thousands of Europeans voluntarily tore up their roots to set out on what must, in their more sober moments, have seemed at the very least a daunting enterprise. The remarkable success of Urban’s call lay to no small degree in the renewed spirituality that had embraced Western Christianity since the approach of the second millennium. Many of the followers were certainly motivated by the fact that the Crusade had taken on the form of a holy pilgrimage, with indulgences given by the Church as a reward for participation. There were also various social and economic factors that contributed to the success of Urban’s call.1
