ABSTRACT
There is a wealth of narrative sources for the First Crusade, but we have no extant contemporary account of Pope Urban II's speech at the Council of Clermont in November 1095. Pope Urban wrote numerous letters to elicit support for the campaign in the East. Letters are an important source because, unlike many narratives, they are contemporary compositions by key players. Spiritual, as well as practical, preparations were needed before setting out on the crusade. The attitude of the Greeks to the Second Crusade was, generally, one of hostility. They did not want large western armies outside Constantinople and they feared the impact of the crusade on their newly imposed overlordship of the principality of Antioch. As the Third Crusade approached Jerusalem the realisation that the holy city could not be held dawned upon the mass of crusaders. The Fourth Crusaders see Constantinople for the first time, June 1203.
