This Day in History: Pope Urban II orders the first crusade

On 27 November, 1095, Pope Urban II Orders the First Crusade, in what was perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages.

Speaking to several hundred clerics and noblemen at the Council of Clermont in France, the Pope called on all Christians in Europe to wage war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land. Urban II called out, “Deus vult” or “God wills it”.

The war cry roused between 60,000 and 100,000 people who marched on Jerusalem.


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