The First Crusade
As the year 1000A.D. was approaching the strength of Christianity in Western Europe
was growing along with its population. The newly reformed and organized Church began to gain
great power. A new Europe was being born with the Catholic Church as a force in every area of
life.
In Christian beliefs, the savior, Jesus Christ was to return to earth and bring judgment on
its people. Many clergy members along with lay people believed this would take place in the
year 1000A.D. . Knowing this, the people of Europe awaited the return of Christ and feared the
Wrath of God. Religious people wanted to make up for their sins and avoid the horrors of
eternal damnation. Clergy members were often consulted to figure out what would be a suitable
penance. ' The Church itself still frequently imposed pilgrimages as a penance' (Campbell p.14).
A pilgrimage to the Holy Land was not an easy task to say the least.
The Holy Seapulchre Church, Jerusalem. Catholic Ho...
Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont of 1095, ...
English: Capture of Jerusalem during the First Cru...The road to Jerusalem was
jagged. On the way to Jerusalem, pilgrims were often murdered by thieves. They were
defenseless and often did not return. Some pilgrims did return from the Holy Land. They came
back with tales that planted the seeds for a Crusade.
' The pilgrims that returned from the Holy City of Jerusalem recounted tales, often
grossly exaggerated, of the horrible pollution of the sacred places at the hands of the Turks'
(Campbell p23). Other stories of the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the burial
place of Jesus, by the Turks surfaced in the early eleventh century. The news of the destruction
of the Sepulcher was mourned in every Christian country. The nations looked to Rome for a
solution to this most serious of Problems.
The Byzantine emperor asked for the aid of...