The Beginnings

The year was 1095 CE.  Emperor Alexius I Comnenus was in desperate need of help.  The Turks who had captured the Holy Lands were also capturing lands that inched their way closer to Byzantine territory.  Alexius looked to the only answer he saw: the Pope.  Pope Urban II saw this as a chance to gain power and to get rid of those nasty infidels, the Turks, so he jumped at the opportunity and called for the Council at Clermont.