The Crusades Begin

At the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II urged Western Christians to aid the Byzantine Empire against Seljuk Turkish expansion and to reclaim the Holy Land, particularly Jerusalem, for safe Christian pilgrimage. This launched the First Crusade, leading to the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. The Crusading era spanned several centuries and was a deeply complex period driven by genuine religious fervor, political ambition, and economic interests. While they successfully reopened pilgrimage routes for a time, they also involved significant violence, the tragic sack of Constantinople in 1204, and lasting tensions with the Islamic world.