Council of Clermont

Council of Clermont
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Illumination of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont of 1095, from the Livre des Passages d'Outre-mer, c. 1490. Note the scene has been anachronistically placed in a late Gothic setting.
The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, which was held from November 18 to November 28, 1095 at Clermont, France. Pope Urban II's speech on November 27 was the starting point of the First Crusade.
In 1095 the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus sent envoys to the west requesting military assistance against the Seljuk Turks. The message was received by Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza; later that year, in November, Urban called the Council of Clermont to discuss the matter further. In convoking the council, Urban urged the bishops and abbots whom he addressed directly, to bring with them the prominent lords in their provinces.
The Council lasted from November 19 to November 28, and was attended by about 300 clerics from throughout France...
...On November 27, Urban spoke for the first time about the problems in the east, as he urged Western Christians fight against the Muslims who had occupied the Holy Land and were attacking the Eastern Roman Empire. - enWikipedia