The First Crusade begins
During the 1000's, Seljuk Turks from central Asia invaded the Near East and conquered Asia Minor, Palestine, and Syria. The Turks crushed the Byzantines in the Battle of Manzikert in Asia Minor in 1071. The Muslim Turks made it difficult for Christian pilgrims to reach the holy places.
In the autumn of 1095, Urban II, pope of the Roman Catholic Church, gave a stirring sermon, urging European Christians to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. He promised the crusaders both spiritual and material rewards for their work. The crowd enthusiastically responded with shouts of "God wills it!" An intense desire to fight for Christianity gripped Western Europe, and thousands of people joined the cause.
Excerpt adapted from the "Crusades" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999