In November 1095 the Pope, Urban II, held a speech at the Council of Clermont, calling for a war of liberation. The war was to be waged by volunteers who vowed to fight. By calling all Christians to war against the Muslims, so that they could help defend the Byzantine empire and potentially reclaim the Holy Land, he gave rise to the Crusades. Become a Simple History member: https://www.youtube.com/simplehistory/join Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/simplehistory Copyright: DO NOT translate and re-upload our content on Youtube or other social media. SIMPLE HISTORY MERCHANDISE Get the Simple History books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Turner-%60/e/B00H5TYLAE/ T-Shirts https://teespring.com/stores/simple-history-official-merch Simple history gives you the facts, simple! See the book collection here: Amazon USA http://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Turner/e/B00H5TYLAE/ Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Daniel-Turner/e/B00H5TYLAE/ https://www.facebook.com/Simple-History-549437675141192/ https://twitter.com/SimpleHistoryYT Credit: Created by Daniel Turner Narrator: Lucas Webley Music Credit: 'Agnus Dei X - Bitter Suite' and 'Crusade - Video Classica' by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://www.amazon.com/Agnus-Dei-X/dp/B00QGC7W3Y Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Sources: God's War: A New History of the Crusades by Christopher Tyerman The Crusades: A History by Jonathan Riley-Smith A Short History of the Middle Ages Paperback by Barbara H. Rosenwein History of the Crusades by Steven Runciman Christianity: A Global History By David Chidester The Sepulchre of Christ and the Medieval West: From the Beginning to 1600 by Colin Morris The Middle Ages By Morris Bishop POPE URBAN II'S PREACHING OF THE FIRST CRUSADE H. E. J. COWDREY Vol. 55, No. 184 (1970), pp. 177-188