Which pope called for the First Crusade in 1095?

Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1095.

He issued the famous appeal at the Council of Clermont in France on 27 November 1095. Urban urged western European Christians to aid the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, whose empire faced pressure from the Seljuk Turks, and to reclaim Jerusalem and other holy sites. His speech helped launch a massive armed pilgrimage that became known as the First Crusade.

The response was immediate and diverse. Nobles and knights organized military expeditions, while large numbers of ordinary people joined popular movements. Participants commonly adopted the cross as a sign of their vow, which is why the expedition’s followers became known as crusaders. The campaign eventually captured Jerusalem in 1099 and established several Latin Christian states in the eastern Mediterranean.

Urban’s call should not be confused with later crusades or with the papacies of Gregory VII, Innocent III, or Leo IX. Nor was Clermont the beginning of every Christian-Muslim conflict in the region; it was the decisive papal summons that transformed existing political, religious, and military tensions into a large international expedition. Accounts of Urban’s exact words differ because the original speech was not recorded verbatim.